He walked right to the back of the couch behind me and I tipped my head back to watch him do it.
“Hey,” I said quietly.
He bent at the same time his hand swept my hair off my shoulder, across my neck to my other shoulder, his head dipped in and I felt his lips at the skin behind my ear.
Lips still there he whispered, “Hey babe.”
“Mm hmm,” I heard Elvira mumble and I processed this but only minutely mainly because I was processing my belly flutter coupled with a quiver in a private place.
He straightened, his hand curled around my neck and he took in the girl posse with his black eyes.
“Ladies,” he muttered.
“Hey,” Tracy breathed.
“Yo, Hawk,” Elvira greeted.
Camille just looked at him.
He let go of my neck, rounded the couch and I scrambled to scoot away as he sat between me and the armrest. One of his arms moved to wrap around my shoulders, pulling me to him as his other hand came out and nabbed my cosmo. I turned my head and watched him sip from the martini glass. As I did my mind warred, one faction making my belly feel squishy that he was drinking from my glass, the other faction wanting to reclaim my cosmo before he drank any more.
It was no surprise which one won out.
“Do you want your own?” I asked pointedly.
“Yours’ll do,” he ignored my point, handed the glass back to me and then leaned forward to grab some leftover apple slices. Then he leaned back, casually tossing one in his mouth.
I turned to the girl posse and explained, “Hawk’s body is his temple. In about a minute, he’ll go into anaphylactic shock when the vodka processes through his system. No need for alarm, I have the adrenalin injection handy.”
Tracy giggled again. Elvira laughed right out. Hawk did his manly, deep, amused chuckle and even Cam grinned.
“Mo says you left at three thirty,” Hawk remarked when the laughter died and I looked at him to see his eyes were on Elvira.
I looked at Elvira and she was nodding. “Sho’ did.”
I bit my lip and looked at Tracy.
“Is this gonna be a creatively concealed line item?” Hawk asked as he leaned forward and grabbed some stranded grapes, his head tipping to the decimated food boards.
“I’ve set up Gwen as her own cost center,” Elvira replied, unruffled.
My eyes got big.
“Probably a good idea,” Hawk muttered, leaning back.
I gulped but Tracy put her drink aside so she could sit on her hands in order not to clap them in glee.
I looked at Hawk. “Would you like a proper meal?”
“Will you display symptoms of post-traumatic stress after you’re forced to steam vegetables and spoon out cottage cheese?” he asked back.
I felt my eyebrows go up. “Is that what you want for dinner?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Then yeah, probably. Will my cost center include visits to the psychologist?”
He grinned just as his arm curved fast and tight, pulling me into him. My cosmo arm shot out to avoid collision as my chest hit his chest, his hand slid up into my hair to cup my head, he tilted it and my mouth hit his.